Holiday Weekend Ends With Violence In Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — It was a very violent holiday weekend in Minneapolis. Five separate shootings kept police busy Sunday night and early Monday morning.

In all, six people were hurt. There were two shootings in the Warehouse District off First Avenue — the others happened just a few miles away.

A weekend night in the downtown area can be a busy place for police, but Sunday night was unusual.

“We had five shootings in Minneapolis on the south side with six victims,” said Sgt. Bill Palmer, with the Minneapolis Police Department.

The first shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. after a robbery on Nicollet and 24th. That person was shot in the hand and walked to Abbott Northwestern.

Two hours later, a man was shot in his car on Groveland and Nicollet, but police would find the victim with a gunshot to the head at a Super America in Uptown.

“For some reason that vehicle drove to 22nd and Lyndale,” said Palmer.

Then, just after 2 a.m., police had to concentrate their efforts on the Warehouse District. Two men were found shot at First Avenue and Third.

A 21-year-old man was shot in the head and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center in critical condition. A 19-year-old had non-life threatening injuries.

Minutes later, another man was gunned down in a parking lot just two blocks away.

“I don’t think these are random crimes. These appear to be arguments that took place between people prior to the shootings taking place,” Palmer said.

The shootings happened despite a high police presence in the area this weekend.

“When I saw this morning you had crime and shootings, I thought maybe it’s not as safe as I thought it was,” said Tracey Turner, who is visiting from California.

The violence also bucks a recent trend in the downtown area. Violence is actually down 3 percent over last year.

“You have to understand violence happens everywhere in this city. The city is taking this seriously,” said Erik Forsberg, owner of the Ugly Mug. “It’s happening in very select venues. It’s not happening in a majority of places down here.”

Detectives don’t believe Sunday night’s violence is connected. But they’re looking to make several arrests, which may come with the public’s help.

“If they heard something on the street or know something, they know someone who was involved, we’d like to hear from them,” Palmer said.

A man also showed up to HCMC with a gunshot wound, but left before he could get any medical help. One man was arrested for getting in the way of the investigation. Police have not made any other arrests.

Rachel Slavik joined the WCCO team in October of 2010 and is thrilled to be back in her hometown. Rachel spent three years in the sweltering heat of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She anchored, produced, and reported at WVLA. During her time in the Deep...

But that’s not the point. “rightiswrong” would rather blame the guns then the people themselves. I mean why would a liberal hold these savages accountable for their actions? It’s all our fault for not reaching out to them and giving them the hug they so desperately need, maybe even set up a midnight basketball league…that always works…. Once we do that, everything will be fine….. I vote to ban all forks. Obesity kills more people than guys do. So let’s ban all forks and prevent people from eating themselves to death.

I see that “Enough with the uneducated comments” advocates denying peoples 1st Amendment rights. Once again certain people only care about freedom of speech if it doesn’t offend them. Here’s an idea, stop reading the posts. People should lose their chance to voice their opinion just because it annoys you.